Capítulo 14: Chapter 14: The Sharia Effect
[Message:]
⦿ [Sharia: Hey Arg. I have something to show you.]
⦿ [Argo: Hn?]
⦿ [Sharia: Bulbous Bow.jpg.]
⦿ [Argo: Huh? Wait, how? It hasn't been a day though?]
⦿ [Sharia: Do you know the person called Kirito? He was a great help. We teamed up temporarily to hunt down the field boss.]
⦿ [Argo: I see but, what should we do about the raid parties that are preparing to raid down that field boss.]
⦿ [Sharia: "..."]
⦿ [Sharia: Teehee~?]
⦿ [Argo: Be fucking serious. Forget it. I'll spread the word. At this rate, we might even clear the second floor faster than the first. Thank you, Sharia.]
"Fuu." Sharia sighed as he closed his message interface, having read Argo's reply.
Kirito, noticing his friend's thoughtful expression, glanced over before breaking the silence. "Are you sure you don't really need the drops?"
Sharia responded to the question with a deadpan gaze, shaking his head.
"I've already told you; I'm not interested. Keep it; it's more useful to you, right?"
The two swordsmen were currently making their way back to Urbus.
Kirito, for one, had decided he'd had enough excitement for one day.
Being dragged into a fight with a field boss he wasn't prepared for had drained him of any motivation to do anything else.
Kirito, despite the exhaustion, didn't regret it.
The raid had gotten him valuable materials and a significant amount of EXP.
Thanks to the fact that they took down the field boss as a duo and not as a party, which meant higher EXP gains for each of them….
…...Since raiding in a party divides the gains equally amongst players, this was more worthwhile.
However, that didn't mean he'd want to do something like this ever again.
Regardless. Both he and Sharia had levelled up twice from the battle.
[Kirito: Lv 19]
[Sharia: Lv 16]
Now, they had left the [Trembling Ox's] field and were almost nearing Urbus.
As they walked, Kirito's curiosity got the better of him.
"By the way, Sharia, why... are you playing SAO in the first place?"
The question hit Sharia like a brick wall, causing him to freeze mid-step.
He had been trying not to think much about it.
Over the past month, he'd been immersing himself in the game, using it as a distraction from reality.
But the truth was, uncertainty gripped him. He didn't know what awaited him outside this virtual world.
"To be honest, I don't know… It's not that I don't even know; I'm not even sure myself."
Sharia's voice was quieter than usual, his usual outgoing expression replaced by uncertainty?
Kirito couldn't quite put his hand on his, but he could tell Sharia's expression was different from the one he had seen on other people's.
And Sharia's was definitely uncertainty which was different than the usual lax demeanour?
He might have only known him for a few hours, but his interactions with the reckless swordsman taught him a lot.
"Sharia…"
"Forget it."
Sharia shook his head, brushing off the thoughts that had briefly consumed him.
This made Kirito pause, reflecting for a moment. 'Even somebody like him has his own fears, huh?'
"Then, what about you, Kirito?"
Sharia asked suddenly, his voice regaining its usual confidence.
"Huh?" Kirito responded; a bit thrown by the sudden question.
"You have somebody waiting for you outside Aincrad, right?"
Sharia continued, the familiar smug smile creeping back onto his face as he locked eyes with Kirito.
'Kuh.' Kirito instinctively took a step back. "Wait, why're you looking at me like that… well, I do have a family and a sister—"
"I call dibs on your sister."
Sharia interrupted Kirito before he could fully grasp where this conversation was going, giving him the best *Lock In* gaze he could.
"H-huh?" Kirito blinked, trying to process what Sharia had just said.
With exaggerated hand gestures and a mischievous grin, Sharia repeated himself, this time even louder.
"Your sister. I call dibs on her."
Of course, Sharia was just joking around, messing with the black swordsman.
But still, would he mind if Kirito does offer Sugu to him? Who knows.
"W-wait, why're you looking at me like that? K-Kirito, why're you unsheathing your sword?"
"Hold on, it's just a joke!"
Sharia quickly backtracked, waving his hands in defense.
"It's just a joke!"
.
.
[Some minutes later]
.
.
.
"Serious… haah… ly. How are you that fast?"
Kirito huffed, crouching down as he tried to catch his breath.
Sharia, who was also in an equally exhausted state, stood a few paces ahead, leaning against a nearby tree.
"No, why wouldn't I run fast when a darn Siscon is chasing me with a sword in hand?"
Sharia retorted, still catching his breath.
"Si-siscon?" Kirito stammered, taken aback by the accusation.
"Hn, are you not?" Sharia shot Kirito a judging look, causing the black swordsman to freeze, his face going blank.
"I'm not!" Kirito protested, a bit too defensively.
"Pfft—Hahahaha!" Sharia burst into laughter, unable to hold it in any longer.
Sure enough, messing with the black swordsman was fun.
"Forget it," Kirito muttered, his lips twitching as he then quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, I've heard rumors about a certain bladesmith. A player bladesmith."
This piqued Sharia's interest immediately. "Oh?"
Since he didn't know Sword Art Online Progressive but was familiar with the anime's storyline, he knew he'd have to rely on either Kirito or Argo for information.
"So, player smiths are becoming a thing?"
"Yeah, I reckon other types of professions will become available soon too," Kirito nodded, continuing as they walked.
"And if you need to enhance your weapon, it'd be best to have your own personal bladesmith. The rates are pretty abysmal."
Sharia shook his head in disdain. "RNG. A shitty system indeed. It's all Kayaba's fault."
Kirito raised an eyebrow at that. "By the way, I've noticed—does Sharia hate Kayaba that much?"
Sharia let out a laugh reminiscent of a certain Christmas figure.
"Hohoho. I don't really hate him, but as long as I can shove a longsword deep into his throat, then I'm chilled."
Kirito flinched at the blunt statement, instinctively taking a step back. "That's..."
"But he deserves that much, right? Even if the two thousand people who died were reckless, it's because of his settings they're dying, no?"
Sharia pointed out.
"Imagine those who came to play this for fun, only to realize this is a death game. Please, what is this? Squid Game?"
Kirito fell silent.
As someone who idolized Kayaba Akihiko, he, along with several thousand players, had often wondered why.
Why would such a genius do this?
But Kirito wouldn't get to think much about it, as Sharia would then interrupt.
"Forget it," Sharia said, dismissing the topic with a wave of his hand. "Let's stop discussing this boring subject."
'Boring.....' Kirito thoughts trailed off as he saw Sharia walk in front. 'Maybe so.'
They had now arrived at Urbus.
As usual, the town was bustling with adventurers coming and going, with groups of people leaving the city in tow.
Were this not a death game, it would have been more enjoyable for both, but unfortunately, this was a death game.
"Haah, I'm tired," Sharia yawned, his hands covering his mouth, as he groggily continued.
Kirito, walking behind him, couldn't help but respond with exasperation, "We're still in the morning, you know."
"Hn? Close enough, it's almost afternoon."
"—Eh? Kirito-kun?"
As Kirito and Sharia were heading back to their respective inns, they heard Kirito's name being called.
They turned to see a figure cloaked in a dark red leather tunic approaching them.
Sharia seeing this squinted his eyes at the figure, before looking at Kirito.
"Hoho? Dear Blackie, I wasn't familiar with your game."
"H-huh? What game?" Kirito asked, puzzled.
Looking over at Sharia, Kirito saw him wearing a playful smirk.
It was clear that Sharia knew exactly who the approaching figure was from the voice.
"Don't worry, have a good date~" Sharia teased, giving a V sign before suddenly vanishing from his spot.
Kirito blankly stared as he watched Sharia's figure blur away.
Close enough.
Sharia didn't disappear but had simply jumped away at high-speeds. "Wait, is he even able to do that?"
"Do what?" Asuna's voice broke his thoughts as she approached him.
"By the way, that player that was with you looked familiar?"
The girl beneath the cloak, having long orange-brownish chestnut hair and hazel eyes asked to which the Black Swordsman averted his gaze.
"Well—"
Meanwhile.
While Sharia and Kirito enjoyed their day off, many other players were far from relaxed.
The words [SHARIA WAS HERE] and the news of a missing Field Boss were causing quite a stir.
This information quickly spread from the scouts at [Trembling-Ox] fields to Marome, a small village about three kilometers southeast of Urbus.
From there, it reached a newly forming guild led by a blue-haired man who idolized Sharia.
"As expected of him."
The blue-long-haired man muttered as he stood his back leaning against a tree. "It hasn't even been a week."
"No joke, it was the morning he set out; I'm surprised he'd get it done in quickly. Seems like I underestimated him."
Similarly, a voice emerged from the opposite side of the tree against which Diavel was resting his back.
At this rate, clearing the second floor would be faster than the first, no?
"Shar-kun is taking the day off; it would be best not to disturb him till he's ready to come back to the front lines."
"I'd say we have a good chance of beating Asterius. Preparations are underway, and we've gathered a lot since day before yesterday."
With changes like this, this time they were more than prepared, but both certainly didn't expect that field boss would have been cleared in technically a day.
But this was more helpful; although they still lacked more high-quality materials, using their foreknowledge, they knew what they had to do and where they have to get said high-quality materials.
"We'll start our raid in the 2nd floor's labyrinth. I've even arranged for a few players to become a bladesmith."
"You are more enthusiastic than me, Dia-chan."
"Hahaha. It's all for the sake of assisting him."
As Diavel finished those words, the grass rustled, and the wind blew against his face.
Argo had vanished from her spot, leaving Diavel alone resting against the tree.
With the field boss cleared, the entrance to the 2nd floor's labyrinth was now wide open for them.
The field boss is positioned to guard the way to the labyrinth; hence, Sharia clearing this boss early was a good thing for them.
Clearing the second floor would definitely be faster than the first.
*******
B/N: By the way, I have another fic in my draft, I've only gotten two chapters written down so far, naturally, this one is still my priority.
The MC of that fic has Cid Kagenou's—L + Ratio = Genocide—mentality.
Let me know if you're interested.
Since I'm not ready for that one having a book of it's own yet, I could post the first chapter as a sneak peak.
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